David Letterman

No getting around it; David Letterman sounds, well, happy for a change. Or, at least, as happy as an insecure, driven, angst-ridden performer with a pathological fear of failure can be. Certainly no one has more of a right to enjoy himself for a spell. For the past two years, Letterman has been the most wrangled-over, gossiped-about, sought-after star in television. When Jay Leno was chosen to succeed Johnny Carson as host of the Tonight Show, it was Letterman, the disappointed office seeker, who drew the sympathy vote. Last fall, when his contract with NBC was coming due after 11 years as custodian of the post-Carson time period, he was besieged with offers. In January, when he announced he was jumping to CBS for a reported $14 million a year, Letterman reached the superstar pantheon. Starting next Monday when his show resurfaces on CBS at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time — going head to head against Leno’s Tonight Show in most cities — he will be the point man in the most frenzied battle for late-night viewers in TV history.

I am not, as yet, ninety years old. However, for some odd reasons, all the people on the TIME covers, as listed, are my best friends. I followed their careers in arts, literature, music and acquired Hollywood and thus, world fame.

What is missing badly is a snippet of article dedicated to these ninety noble souls.